This is directed to systems and methods for managing the order of played back media items within a random playback sequence. In particular, this is directed to playing back a subset of media items in a predefined sequence during random playback of media items.
Many types of electronic devices include circuitry and software for playing back media items. For example, portable media devices can be used to play back locally stored media items selected from a user's media library. The device can play back the media items in any suitable order, including for example in a user set order (e.g., set by a playlist), by ordering the media items based on a metadata attribute value (e.g., alphabetically by title or artist name). Alternatively, the device can play back media items in a random order.
While many media items can be played back in any random order, some media items or some sets of media items are best played back in a specific order. For example, some album songs are best played back in album order. As another example, a series of live songs or songs recorded at a concert may be best played back in concert order. When the media items are inserted in a random playlist, the resulting playback may not be enjoyable to the user. In particular, the user may not be able to listen to an entire sequence of media items within the random playback of the media items.